COSCO Pacific increases stake in southeastern China port

COSCO Pacific increases stake in southeastern China port COSCO Pacific has increased its stake in a multiuse cargo terminal in Quanzhou in the southeastern province of Fujian, the company said Tuesday.
   A local subsidiary of COSCO will now control 80 percent of the $100 million Jinjiang terminal, with Jinjiang Port Investment and Development Co. owning the remaining 20 percent.
   The terminal comprises one container-handling berth with 300,000 TEUs capacity and two breakbulk berths capable of handling 2 million tons of cargo. Throughput at the container berth last year was 125,000 TEUs, while cargo handled at the breakbulk berths was 869,000 tons.
   The joint venture aims to expand the terminal by adding a new container berth and breakbulk berth over the next two years, bringing capacity up to 800,000 TEUs and 4.2 million tons, respectively.
   Before the increase in its stake in Quanzhou, COSCO Pacific owned 71 percent of the terminal. Quanzhou is the 14th-largest port in China and the fourth-largest domestic cargo port. TEU volume has risen 21.5 percent in 2007 while breakbulk volume has risen 17.8 percent, the terminal operator said.
   The company also reported that profit for the first nine months of the year improved 11.4 percent to $246.8 million after throughput at all of its container facilities for the same period gained 20.7 percent to 28.8 million TEUs.